World Bank pledges continued support to Vietnam

Hanoi (VNA) – World
Bank (WB) Country Director in Vietnam Ousmane Dione has pledged to assist
Vietnam in fields of request and stand ready to offer policy consultations to
the Vietnamese government.

During a meeting with Deputy
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on December 21, Dione
said he will do his best to strengthen the bilateral relationship which was
fostered by his predecessors.

He wished that the Vietnamese
government would provide all possible support for him to fulfill assigned tasks
during his tenure.

Deputy PM Minh, for his part,
assured the guest that the financial assistance provided by the WB is being effectively
utilised for socio-economic development in Vietnam.

He thanked the lender for
coordinating with development partners to consider a solution to help Vietnam
graduate from the International Development Association’s preferential
treatment for 2018-2021, which suits Vietnam’s specific socio-economic
conditions.

The host asked the WB to continue
helping Vietnam with socio-economic development, especially in poverty
reduction, health care, climate change response and rural development and
agriculture.

As one of the largest donors of Vietnam,
the WB committed 22.5 billion USD in non-refundable aid and preferential loans to
the country as of September 2016, most of them are used for poverty reduction,
rural infrastructure upgrade, health care, clean water supply and climate
change response.-VNA